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NEW DELHI: Every evening after work, Sudhir Yadav makes a detour on his way back home - not to the neighbourhood gin mill but to the roadhouse with the rowers and treadmills. When ET called up Yadav, the 56-year-old executive at Hays Recruiting's Mumbai office was sweating it out at one of the suburban centres of the Talwalkars chain of gyms.

Yadav is, of course, attempting to shed some flab and add some muscle. But that's not the only reason for breaking into a sweat. "At the gym, I am still at work," he grins.

Yadav, who hunts for top executives for a variety of multinational companies in India, joined the gym six-and-a-half years ago when he was in Delhi. That was when his physician advised him to exercise for health reasons.

"But I soon realised that there were other benefits of gymming, other than those on the health front. I started mingling with top executives of several telecom firms. One day, an Aircel zonal head gave me a lead in Airtel and there was no looking back."

Networking is passe, say hello to the latest buzzword in town - sweatworking. It's a trend that has gained ground in the West this year, with business networking shifting from boozy lunches and nine-hole golf courses to the treadmills in swanky gyms. India Inc isn't being left behind. Top executives and entrepreneurs are paying early morning or late evening visits to gyms to catch up with like-minded people even as they strive to keep fit.

Meetings too are being conducted during workouts: a Delhi-based builder asked this writer to join him for a session at a top gym at his south Delhi mall during which the interview could take place.

Often, executives can be found just hanging around in such fitness centres - the sessions could range from spinning to kick-boxing to Zumba - hoping for a chance meeting that can lead to a business opportunity.

For Samarjit Singh, owner of real estate services firm IndiaHomes (formerly Agni Properties), Amattra - the gym at the capital's Ashoka Hotel - has been his place to de-stress. One fine day he found a business partner in the guy on the benchpress next to his. The strangers hit it off, became friends, and eventually business partners. It wasn't long before they formed a joint venture to buy out a UK-based company. "People come to the gym as much for the networking as for the exercise," Singh quips.

A week ago, Rishi Sahai, managing director at Cogence Advisors, a boutique investment bank, took a client - the promoter of a mid-sized Indian company - to Fitness First in Delhi's Connaught Place. "I think he quite liked the idea of mixing adrenalin with work. We had a healthy discussion," says Sahai, who sweats it out at the gym 3-4 times a week.

It is a trend that is pumping up the business of gyms no less. The overall fitness market in India is estimated at Rs 5,000 crore, of which 90% is accounted for by fitness services and slimming centres, according to a PwC-Ficci report on the wellness industry released in September. Arun Pandey, who has partnered with cricketer MS Dhoni to set up SportsFit, says the industry is growing at 35% year on year.

Istiyak Ansari, chief operating officer at Gold's Gym, says companies have also started encouraging staff to go to gyms. "While the motive is fitness, the employees end up networking as well. For people running small businesses, it is a damn good place to build a network."

Membership to These Gyms Not Cheap

Gold's Gym's corporate sales have gone up from 1% to about 5% in the past one year. Globally, this is about 20-25% of a gym's business so there's still plenty of room for growth.

Memberships to these gyms don't come cheap. The one at Aman Resorts in Delhi charges Rs 1,89,500 a year for a single person and Rs 2,86,800 for a couple. Cricketer Dhoni's fitness chain SportsFit charges Rs 70,000 a year, while membership at Fitness First costs Rs 48,000 a year.

"It is a small price to pay for the benefits one derives," says Akshay Bhalla, MD of Protiviti, a risk advisory firm based in Gurgaon. "I once met a bunch of private equity guys at the gym at Aman Resorts who were looking for deals... Some private equity guys use this place only for networking." Ansari of Gold Gym says he has seen interviews take place at the gym's juice bars.

Vikram Aditya Bhatia, managing director of international gym chain Fitness First, says his centres draw a number of first-generation entrepreneurs, many of whom keep an eagle eye out for potential investors and clients.

Sweatworking, which became popular in countries such as the UK this year, has its origin in the US. It became immensely popular with I-bankers and wealth managers in New York.

Mumbai's young breed of wealth managers and bankers are now going down the same road. Richa Karpe, co-founder and executive director of independent multi-family office Altamount Capital, who would visit a high-profile gym in south Mumbai, says she has caught clients in the most 'unofficial' of moods. "Gyms are a good place to break ice with people socially," she says.